Letting Go
by ashleyapocalypse
Summary: She's been chasing him for as long as either of them could remember. What will happen when she finally catches up to him?


**A/N: No, I am not bashing SonAmy. But this is why I think it could never work out between them, or any Son/ pairing for that matter.**

"_Son_-ic!" a pink hedgehog called, chasing after her cobalt hero through the Mystic Ruins yet again. "Get back here!"

Her blue counterpart kept running, not at his full speed but just fast enough to remain in sight. He adeptly turned around and kept moving backwards, somehow managing to stay on his feet, not even losing momentum. He called backwards, "Sorry, Amy. Not today!" Cocky as ever, he cracked a smile.

"Oh, come on! Just one date!"

"No way!" he called back.

She sped up, slowly but surely gaining ground on the azure hedgehog. He matched pace, so that they were now running in tandem, step for step. Amy glanced, almost sadly, at him and asked, "Why won't you give me a chance?"

Sonic slowed to a walk and stopped. Somehow, this was different than the hundreds of other times they played their little game of one-way tag. "You don't… look, come over here," he sighed and led her to a fallen tree just the right size to comfortably seat two people. Amy sat down warily; she could sense too, that something had changed. The atmosphere felt… different, somehow.

"Amy… we've been friends for a really long time, right?" the pink female nodded apprehensively. _I think I know where this is going…_ she sighed inwardly.

"I understand… how you feel about me. I understand, but I don't feel the same. I wish I could say I did, but…" he said sympathetically, shrugging. Her eyes started tearing up and she flattened her ears. He could tell that this was different than her usual cry-for-attention hysterics. This was genuine, pure, unfiltered sorrow.

"B-but… all those times that you saved me, all those things that you said… couldn't you at least give me a chance?" she repeated her earlier words.

God, he hated lying to her. This was breaking his heart as much as hers. He never wanted to see her in this much pain.

Sonic pulled Amy into a tight embrace. She looked up at him from where she was pressed against his chest, tears streaming down her face. Her expression said it all. She was unbearably sad, and very, very confused. And even after what he'd said, she couldn't help but feel a flicker of elation at finally being in her hero's arms.

"Amy, if things were different… I really, really wish they were." The salt was drying on her face as she held his gaze, now even more perplexed.

"Think about it. How many times have you been kidnapped or even hurt by the bad guys trying to get to me?"

She thought for a moment, ruminating on what he'd said. It was true, Eggman and many of the other villains had taken advantage of her closeness to Sonic, but still…

"Are you implying that I'm just the damsel in distress? I can perfectly well take care of myself you know!" Amy pulled herself free and materialized her piko-piko hammer, for once not as a threat, but just to emphasize her point.

"I know you can defend yourself; heh, I've been on the receiving end of that hammer of yours enough times to know," Sonic smiled ruefully. "It's just… you've been hurt too many times already because of me, because we're friends." She looked up at him, alarmed. Was he suggesting…?

Seeing her expression, he quickly amended, "Oh, no, believe me, I care about you too much to stop being your friend. But I also care about you too much to be anything more."

"Oh…" she looked down sadly, scuffing her red boots together.

"Amy, look at me," he murmured, gently tugging her chin up. Emerald eyes met jade. His gaze held such warmth and gentleness. Though she tried so hard not to care, her heart melted.

"I'd be lying if I said that I didn't care for you. But if I let myself- if we… you would be targeted so much more and maybe even hurt. I couldn't live with myself if something happened to you because of me."

"One day, though, Eggman will be gone, and we won't have to worry anymore." Amy felt a spark of hope.

"That might be years and years from now. And besides Eggman, we've faced so many other threats, and there will definitely be more. The world will never be totally saved."

"But it's not fair!" she burst out. "Why do you always have to be the hero?"

"Amy, you know why. There's no one else. Time and time again we've been the only ones capable of saving our world. If we don't do it, no one will."

"Sonic, we can find a way to make it work." Amy murmured dejectedly.

"Even if we could ensure everyone's safety, it would take years just for us to put Eggman out of commission." They both knew that none of them, save perhaps Shadow, had it in them to eliminate Robotnik permanently.

"I can wait!"

"But I don't want you to wait for me. Not for that long. I don't want you to put your entire life on hold waiting and hoping for something that might not even happen. You have so much more going on, so many more opportunities and things to do."

"You're all I want! You're all I have!" she shouted.

"Amy, what about Cream? Big? And don't forget Silver and Blaze. They all love you and care about you and wouldn't want to see you this upset," Sonic reminded her. "I absolutely hate seeing you this hurt," he added, barely audible.

She just slid down, her back to the log, until she was sitting on her knees on the forest floor. She put her head in her hands and started crying again out of a mix of anger and sorrow.

"Ever since you first saved me from Metal Sonic, back on Little Planet when I was eight… all I've known is wanting you to be mine. It was always you."

Sonic gently grabbed her hands and pulled her back up onto the log, with a muttered "you're getting your dress dirty."

"I know this hurts. Trust me, I know."

"Then why are you doing this to me?"

"Because there's no other way. If I could change things I would. Do you think I want to hurt you? Do you really think I want to be alone?"

Amy finally got it. She realized that this was hurting him as much as it was hurting her.

"You need to consider… maybe I'm _not_ the guy for you."

Amy went silent at this, thinking.

"But I can't just… forget you. I can't."

"But you have to. I wish it were different. God, if things were different…"

"What if things were different?"

"I wish you didn't have to move on. I don't want you to have to. But with things the way they are, we really don't have a choice."

"There's _always_ a choice!"

"Not this time. You have your future, and I have mine. I wish they would intertwine, but I just can't do it. I can't let anything happen to you. Can you understand that?"

This gave her pause. She thought about it; what if their roles were switched? If she had to choose between his welfare and her happiness, would she have the strength to make the right choice?

"Yes, I can," she said slowly.

Sonic scanned their surroundings, making sure they were alone in the ruins. He walked over to Amy and held her close; somehow they both knew that this would be a first and last.

"I love you," he whispered, sending chills down her spine. He held her face in his hands and pressed a kiss to her forehead, roughly, before murmuring "Goodbye, Amy," and running out of sight, the rustling foliage and a sonic boom the only thing left behind for her.


End file.
